Of All Things, I Became a Crow

The pink eyes widened at those words.

“Of course, there are many who protect Rainelle.
Those within the Imperial Palace will protect her at my command.
In fact, Lord Windster is primarily escorting Rainelle.”

“Then, why…?”

“In the end, it is just according to orders, although it’s not that they didn’t do their job with all their heart.
Lord Windster and the Knights of the Imperial Palace are all swearing their allegiance to the Emperor, me.
Of course, it does not disparage their ability.
It's just a difference of heart.”

The Emperor approached the Elementalist and said,

“There's a difference between obeying because of order and obeying voluntarily.
So, I'll turn a blind eye to your rudeness.”

“—By protecting Rainelle-nim…
you mean?”

“You should put her life ahead of yours.”

Miel then responded with a short but firm voice while bowing his head once again,

“Understood.”

“And if, really, if…”

“…?”

“If there comes a time when you have to save either me or Rainelle, you should not hesitate to choose Rainelle.”

“—?! Your Majesty?”

“I won't forgive you for even hesitating.
Do you understand, Marquis?”

“Ha, but…”

The golden eyes narrowed.

“Of course, that's not going to happen, and I'll make sure it doesn't.
But it's a good thing to be prepared just in case.
So swear on it, Marquis:

Even if my life is at risk, you would put Rainelle first.”

At those words, the Elementalist who looked at the Emperor with shaking eyes finally said while hardening his resolve,

“-I will do as you say, Your Majesty.”

At that, the Emperor smiled and nodded his head in satisfaction.

“All right.
Seeing your determination, let's skip the matter of you having attached a spirit to Rainelle without permission.”

“-Your Majesty knew?”

“Did you think there would be no barriers in the Imperial Palace?”

After saying that, Karmeut smiled and gave Miel permission to leave.
As Miel left the room and closed the door, Karmeut let out a long sigh.

Personally, it isn’t to my liking, but…
his feelings and loyalty are useful to Rainelle.
Judging from the favor he received from Rainelle and the attitude he has shown thus far, Marquis Albion would have put Rainelle as his priority even if he has to put his life on the line.

“Now then…”

I have to go see Rainelle.

Thinking so, Karmeut sighed again.

How dare that Young Lady Gwynell makes Rainelle uneasy? On top of that, she dares to show such disrespect and expect no consequences?

Suppressing his desire to punish her immediately, he moved on to find Rainelle.

If I punish her for this kind of thing, the nobles will protest, so I'll be patient…

“…Then all Rainelle’s unusual actions I've seen so far were all because of the Young Lady Gwynell?”

But why? — Is that rude attitude of Young Lady Gwynell influenced by something I didn’t know about?

Karmeut's footsteps were accelerating as he was thinking about the correct answer.
There was only one thing in his mind: Rainelle.

***

 

*Rainelle’s POV

Sitting on the roof of the Imperial Palace, I thought of the situation.

I’m screwed! It’s ruined!! To be questioning my existence would mean that she knows the original story! It's ruined!!

In the original game, the setting was that the player possessed a playable character, that is, the heroine, after she attempted suicide!

Oh, crazy! If I knew this would happen, I would have rehashed the game and searched for its information before I bumped into an accident! But who would expect that I was going to die and possessed a crow in this world?! Ugh!

I groaned while moving my legs and wings in a sense of absurdity, fear, and anger.
Still, I was sad because I knew very well that nothing had changed.

Oh, damn it, damn it, damn it! What to do?! What do I do?! What should I do?! As long as the playable character appeared, it means that we have entered the storyline! Adriana is completely possessed!!

I know that Karmeut is worried about me because I acted differently, but how can I say my worries?! Uhuhu! I want to tell Karmeut everything and deport Adriana out of the country, but I can't because I don't know how far the situation will grow!!

To twist the original storyline is to throw away predictions -which is the information from the game-!

I'm a fragile crow! I’m going to die if it’s like this! Die! Aaaaa I might die aaaah! I might die on the day the heroine seduces the hidden character to assassinate me—!!

Just thinking about it made me feel like my life was being cut short.

Man, this feeling is detrimental to my heart…
I think I'm going to have a real heart attack…

I looked at the sky, looked at the ground, and then opened my beak to heave a deep sigh.

I have no choice but to sigh! How can I not when I feel so stuffy?!

Ughhh! I think I'm going to die of heartburn while doing this uhuhu!! I’m afraid that my feathers will all fall out.
Huwaaa!!

What should I do?!! Aaaaaa!!

What do I do…
I feel like things are already flowing, and it looks like they will explode…

I couldn't come to my senses.
It felt like an explosion took place in my head in real-time.

When the heroine noticed the abnormality, I was ruined…
She knew the original story and even sent a letter to talk to me!

Now, wait a minute, let's calm down.
It has happened, so it's not important to think back on it.
What I have to think about is how to deal with it! Let's think! What would the heroine do next?

1.
Harassing me

2.
Trying to kill me

3.
Get closer to Karmeut

= That's how she drives me out or kills me.

…

Life… why is it so hard…
This life is harder than when I was a zookeeper.
Bro…
I risked my life back then (although I dreamed of becoming a beast breeder), but at least that was what I chose! Not like this! This endangers my life from being targeted by others!

Well, it might just be my imagination, but it's not impossible either!

Spirit! Should I raise my affinity with the spirits?! Or should I change my residence? Should I make a nest in a tree like a real crow?

…but that is not a countermeasure! Ah-oh! Am I affected by the bird head?

I have to think about living! Well, animals have a better survival instinct! I have the instinct to survive to stay alive!

—Is it an illusion that the genre has changed to ‘Survival’?! Is it just an illusion? Please say that it’s a mistake!

You damn God bastard!! Why are you giving me such an ordeal!! I wanted peace, but if you give me shit like this, I will lose sight of myself!! Arghhh!!